More Than Pancakes (The Maple Leaf Series Book 1)

by Christine DePetrillo

  “You’re such a mess.”

  She threw away the tissues and spent a moment looking at herself in the mirror. Her grandmother’s eyes stared back at her.

  “How could you like it here, Grandma Gail? I don’t get it.”

  Lily and her grandmother had been alike in so many ways, but this Vermont business made them seem like complete opposites. How could her grandmother like both the liveliness of California and the solitude of Vermont? The two states were like separate universes.

  After a quick shower—something about being naked and vulnerable made a long shower impossible tonight—Lily took her laptop into the great room. The TV was still on and now X-Men was playing. Some Hugh Jackman before bed was always a good idea.

  Letting Wolverine’s sarcasm follow her into the kitchen, she put together a salad from the few groceries she’d bought while hunting for coffee this morning. She buttered a slice of the bread Hope and Sage had brought over. She took a bite and closed her eyes.

  “Wow. Those two know what they’re doing in the baking department.” Garlic and rosemary were infused right into the loaf, and the toasted crust was a golden delight. Bread fit for a goddess. She had two more slices without butter, and they were just as good.

  Saving some for toast in the morning, Lily retired to the great room with the intent of drawing up new designs for a hotel in another location. Maybe if she came up with a theme so unbelievable, corporate would go for building it somewhere far from Vermont.

  In truth, if she did succeed in acquiring Rick’s property and Utopia Resorts went forward with the construction, it would mean more visits to Vermont for her. More trips to the woods to oversee building, troubleshoot, promote. Spending time in Greece and France and Italy was one thing. Being stuck in Vermont, completely devoid of culture, cuisine, and company was another situation entirely.

  Lily did have fun this afternoon with Hope and Sage. She had to admit that. They were hysterical, and the way they teased Rick was a hoot. She could picture herself being friends with them. Good friends.

  And Rick. He’d surprised her again. Here she was trying to yank his land out from under his feet, and he offered to help her convince corporate to find another place. Who does that? He should be furious with her. He was. Why did he change his mind?

  Or is he acting?

  Lily tapped a finger to her lips as she considered that unpleasant notion. Maybe he was trying to get on her good side. Trying to charm her with his willingness to “help” solve her current dilemma. A dilemma he created. He probably didn’t give a rat’s ass if she lost her job. He only wanted to protect his home and emerge victorious from this battle they were having. Lily didn’t like being played. Not one bit.

  The house phone rang, and she stared at it on the end table by the couch. Who would call that number? Anyone who knew she was there knew to call her cell. She waited until her grandmother’s voice sounded from the answering machine.

  “Hello. You’ve reached Gail Hinsdale, but I’m only taking emergency calls right now, and it’s not an emergency, is it?” A slight pause. “I didn’t think so. I’ll be happy to talk to you when I’m back in California. Bye.” For a minute, Lily felt as if her grandmother was in the room with her.

  “Lily?” A man’s voice. Not Drew’s. Not her father’s. “Lily, I know you’re in there. I can see every light from my cabin. Your house is glowing through the trees.”

  Rick? Lily shut off the lamp closest to the couch and picked up the phone.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “What’s with all the lights anyway? Afraid of the dark?”

  “No.” Afraid of what’s hiding in the dark. “I need to be able to see.”

  “Even in the rooms you’re not in right now? It’s a waste of energy.”

  “What do you care? You’re not paying for the electricity.”

  “No, but conservation of resources is a group effort.”

  “Call me selfish,” Lily said.

  “Selfish.” The teasing edge in Rick’s voice was sexy. Very sexy. Too sexy.

  “Is there a point to this call?” Lily wanted to be annoyed, but somehow she was amused instead. She shut off the TV.

  “I was wondering if you brought any boots that aren’t so California. The two pairs I’ve seen you in so far will not be good for hiking.”

  He’s noticed my boots. What else has he noticed?

  “I’m sorry, did you say hiking?” she asked. “You aren’t in any condition to hike with that ankle.” And there was no way she was going hiking.

  “No, unfortunately, I’m not, but Hope and Sage agreed to take you out into the woods to get some footage.”

  “The woods?” Lily suddenly couldn’t swallow.

  “Yeah, the woods. That’s the main reason a resort wouldn’t work around here. The woods are full of animals that make their homes there. A resort would truly upset their habitats, upset the natural balance.”

  Full of animals. Lily knew the woods were full of animals, of course, but hearing Rick say it out loud made her scars tingle. She shifted her shoulders back and forth on the couch hoping to quiet the memories.

  “Look, we don’t have time to trample through the woods. Maybe Hope and Sage could use my camera and take pictures, video, whatever, while you and I work on another aspect.” That sounded sensible.

  “Lily,” Rick said, “why are you afraid of the woods?”

  “I’m not afraid of the woods.” I’m petrified by them.

  “Everybody’s afraid of something,” he whispered.

  “What are you afraid of, Rick?”

  He laughed, a quick, raspy sound that made Lily close her eyes and lean her head back. “Maybe sometime, when we’re both in an honest mood or very drunk, we can trade stories,” Rick said.

  “Not tonight.” Lily was both relieved and saddened.

  “No, not tonight.” He was quiet for a moment. “Okay, we’ll send Hope and Sage out on assignment and see what they come up with. We’ll focus on my business and take it from there.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Come to the sugarhouse. It’s the building behind the store.”

  “Okay.” Lily got up and peeked through the dining room window. “How come I don’t see any lights from your place through the trees?”

  “I’ve only got one light on by the bed where I am right now. My bedroom is on the other side of the house, not facing your property.”

  Lily pictured Rick’s bedroom and found herself getting sweaty as she did so. Suddenly a light appeared in the distance.

  “Is that you?” she asked.

  “Yep, in the kitchen now. All this talking is making me thirsty.”

  “That’s right. Hermits don’t chit-chat, do they?”

  “This isn’t chit-chat. We’re making plans. Important ones. I wouldn’t have called otherwise. I never use the phone.”

  Lily heard something being poured, then a bark.

  “Poe says hello,” Rick said.

  “Sounded more like ‘feed me.’ How do you sleep at night with that beast in your house?”

  “Ouch. Poe is willing to let the beast comment slide, but that was uncalled for,” Rick said. “I told you and my aunt told you that Poe isn’t wild. I’ve had her since she was a pup. She doesn’t know any life but the domestic one she’s been living.”

  “Right, until she tears your face off in your sleep.”

  “She wouldn’t do that.” He sounded so sure.

  “How do you know?”

  Rick didn’t answer right away. What was he doing? What was he thinking? What was he wearing? What wasn’t he wearing?

  “Poe knows she’s lucky to have me. She’d probably be dead if I hadn’t taken her in. Her mother had abandoned her, and she was starving when I found her. I fed her. I cared for her. I…” He stopped and drew in a breath.

  “You loved her.”

  “Yeah. Corny, right?”

  The light went out between the trees,
and Lily knew Rick was headed back to his bedroom. That coyote was probably on his heels and ready to snuggle up to him under the covers.

  Was it stupid to be jealous of a mutt?

  ****

  Rick stood in front of his closet and surveyed the miniscule selection of clothes. T-shirts, thermal shirts, flannel shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, jeans. All pretty plain, all pretty worn.

  “So what?” he said to Poe who was stretched out on his bed, her head resting on her front paws as she watched him. “It’s a regular workday. Why should my clothes matter?”

  Poe woofed and wagged her tail.

  “Lily is not a guest. In fact, she’s the enemy. We have to remember that, Poe. We wouldn’t need to collect reasons why a resort is no good here if it weren’t for her.”

  Rick yanked down a blue thermal shirt and a blue-and-black-checkered flannel shirt. They were Aunt Joy’s favorites. She always said blue made his eyes pop, and he told himself he was wearing them for her.

  He rushed through breakfast, actually considered taking the pain pills for his ankle so it wouldn’t be a problem today, but decided against it. He’d have to remember to sit here and there. It didn’t hurt as bad as he expected it to after all the time he’d spent on it yesterday. He closed his fingers around the cane, but decided against that too. Feeling like a senior citizen at his age sucked.

  When he and Poe arrived at the store, Hope was standing on a chair rewriting the menu on the enormous chalkboard hanging on the wall behind the pastry case. Sage stood below her reading items off a sheet of paper. They both turned around when bells chimed and Poe howled.

  “What are those?” Rick pointed to three golf ball sized bells hanging above the store’s door.

  “Jeez, Rick,” Sage said. “I know you don’t get out much, but you should know bells when you see them.”

  “And hear them,” Hope added.

  “Don’t you two ever get tired of being smart asses?” Rick limped in and straightened a few books on the shelves. Poe sat by the door still eyeing the bells.

  “No, never,” Sage said.

  “We’re just so good at it,” Hope said.

  “What are we good at?” Aunt Joy came out of the kitchen. She had her hair covered with a bandana and a towel in her hand. That meant only one thing—she was doing some serious cleaning of the refrigerator in the back. She had a thing about that refrigerator being spotless when the season started. As if she couldn’t work unless she was certain absolutely every corner of that appliance had been wiped, sanitized, and dried.

  “We’re good at annoying Ricky,” Sage said.

  “Gifted,” Rick said.

  “That’s my girls.” Aunt Joy gave Sage a hug as she passed by and dropped the towel she carried onto the pastry case.

  “Don’t encourage them, Aunt Joy. And don’t call me Ricky.” He nudged Poe and coaxed her to follow him. He headed toward the kitchen so he could cut through to the sugarhouse.

  “Aren’t you going to wait for Lily out here?” Sage called.

  “Lily?” Aunt Joy hooked her hand on Rick’s arm before he could vanish into the kitchen. He knew getting Smart Ass One and Two involved was a mistake. “Why is Lily coming here? I thought she was the villain trying to steal your sanctuary.”

  “Rick decided to date her instead,” Sage said.

  “I did not.” A sudden heat crept up Rick’s face. He wanted all three of these women to clear out.

  “Easy there, Big Fella.” Hope turned around on the chair where she was still standing and patted Rick on the shoulder. “You know, we could take your touchiness to mean it actually is a date you’re having with Lily today.”

  Aunt Joy stepped between them before Rick had the chance to say or do anything. He would never hurt his cousins though their taunting was incessant. Sometimes he wanted to knock their heads together and be done with it.

  “Why is Lily coming here, Rick?” Aunt Joy looked him in the eye from a foot below him.

  “I think I’ve convinced her a resort wouldn’t work here.” He gently freed himself from Aunt Joy’s grip.

  “Our Ricky has got some charm after all,” Sage said.

  “Keep it up, Sage. Go ahead.” He leaned against the kitchen threshold to take the weight off his ankle. “Don’t call me Ricky.”

  Sage stuck her tongue out at him. “Too bad you only use that charm on strangers.”

  “Beautiful strangers,” Hope added, which sent her and Sage into a round of chuckles. Even Aunt Joy had a grin on her face.

  Rick reached to the pastry case and grabbed the towel. He balled it up and threw it at the chalkboard. At least a third of what Hope had written in her perfect handwriting smudged.

  “Rick!” Hope hopped off the chair and gave him a push. “You’re a jerk.”

  “I’m a jerk? Me?” Rick angled his hands at himself. “You two have been nonstop on my back since I came in here.”

  “Then don’t come in here.” Sage climbed onto the chair and handed the paper to Hope. She took the towel and wiped the entire chalkboard clean.

  “I’ll come in here whenever I damn well please,” Rick said.

  The bells above the door jangled and everybody froze. Lily stood in the front doorway, and Rick forgot everything else for a moment. She wore a long red sweater that belted around her tiny waist. A cream-colored shirt peeked from beneath the sweater, its ruffled collar framing the smooth skin at Lily’s neck. The blue jeans covering her lower half made Rick wish he were those jeans. Brown suede boots snaked to her knees. Her strawberry curls appeared redder today, and those blue-green eyes made Rick think of exotic places he’d never visited.

  “I know you said to go to the sugarhouse around back, but I heard you in here.” Lily stepped farther into the store. “You guys all right?”

  “Super,” Sage said.

  “Fantastic,” Hope agreed. “Mom?”

  “I’m a little confused, but otherwise wonderful.” Aunt Joy shook her head. “I’m going back to my cleaning.” She gave Lily a wave and stopped in front of Rick. “Boy, you look so nice in blue.” She patted his cheek and went into the kitchen.

  “He does look nice in blue,” Hope said. “Don’t you think so, Lily?”

  Lily smiled, and the temperature in the store skyrocketed. Rick rolled up his sleeves and shot a death glare at Hope.

  “Did you bring your camera?” Rick asked Lily. Best to get down to business and stop wasting time. Also best to get rid of Hope and Sage before they embarrassed him on a large scale. Cracking his nuts when it was the three of them was one thing, but he couldn’t have them doing so with Lily here.

  Lily dug around in her purse and held up a digital camera.

  Rick walked around the pastry case and got a whiff of that grapefruit-coconut-sunshine smell as he neared Lily. The scent didn’t belong in the store, but he took a second to inhale deeply anyway. He took the camera, his fingers brushing against Lily’s for the briefest of moments. That quick touch did something to his body. Something he couldn’t explain. Something he didn’t want to acknowledge.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “Dumb and Dumber, take this camera and get lost.”

  “We’re in the middle of something.” Sage rested a hand on her hip.

  “Sage, obey me.” Rick couldn’t contain the twitch in his lips as he fought not to laugh. He knew how to get on his cousins’ nerves just as well as they got on his. They’d been playing this game for years, and truthfully he’d miss it if it stopped.

  “Obey you? I don’t think so.” Sage got off the chair and marched over to Rick who shuffled behind Lily before his cousin could get to him. “Nice, Rick. Use the guest as your shield. Real gentlemanly.”

  “I’m not sure I want to get involved in this.” Lily threw a glance over her shoulder at Rick, but her lips were turned up in a Hollywood-worthy grin. She would have melted an audience with that smile.

  Sage regarded Lily for a silent moment then flicked her gaze to Rick. He braced himself for some comm
ent meant to truly humiliate him, but instead Sage held out her hand for the camera.

  “As you wish, master.” She took the camera, winked at Rick, and turned around. “C’mon, Hope. Let’s play Wild Kingdom.”

  Sage pulled Hope through the kitchen, leaving only Lily and Rick in the storefront. Neither of them moved, but Rick said, “What just happened?”

  “I think you won.” She turned around, and he realized how close they were standing. He took a few limps back and tried to breathe.

  “Interesting,” he said. “I never win.”

  “Well, congratulations,” Lily said. “I missed out on all this fun. Only child and so are my parents. No siblings, no cousins.”

  “But you had a famous grandmother,” Rick said. “That had to be fun.”

  “Definitely.” She let her purse slip off her shoulder and dropped it onto the nearest table. “My father is an actor too. Robert Hinsdale.”

  “Oh, right. Aunt Joy loves his movies. You don’t look anything like him.”

  “Good. I don’t want to look like a sixty-something-year-old actor.”

  “You do, however, look like Gail.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “As it was meant.” That heat washed over Rick again. Concerning. Am I coming down with something? He didn’t feel sick aside from the feverish episode happening right now. “You may be as nice as Gail too.”

  “May? You haven’t decided yet?” Lily pulled her laptop out of her purse and powered it up.

  “When I first met you the other day,” Rick began, “you know, when you were all ‘let’s make a deal’ about taking my land, I thought you were evil. Not at all like Gail who had been so generous with allowing me to increase my productivity by leasing her trees.”

  Lily’s shoulders sagged a little. “Maybe I am evil. I came in here, guns blazing, just thinking about myself. I didn’t give a shit that this was your home and that you might actually like living here.”

  “And now?”

  He slid out a chair and sat, letting out a small sigh. Lily lowered into the chair opposite him then pulled out the one next to her. She patted the seat and pointed to his foot. He maneuvered his leg onto the chair, and his ankle thanked him by not throbbing so much.